


My Boyfriend is a Werewolf

by andnowforyaya



Category: B.A.P, K-pop
Genre: Domestic, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-15 05:49:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4595271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andnowforyaya/pseuds/andnowforyaya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Himchan's boyfriend Daehyun is a werewolf, and it's Moon Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by this video: [ gay werewolf boyfriends](http://rudywolfe.tumblr.com/post/126869778577/elphabaforpresidentofgallifrey-watch-this)

Himchan’s had the date circled for months; they formed the habit over a bottle of wine during the holidays, researching the dates over the next year, setting up alerts on the calendars in their phones. MOON DAY, they’ve started calling it, since Daehyun hates it when Himchan calls it his ‘time of the month.’

“Babe,” Himchan says after silencing his alarm, nudging his boyfriend in his sleep. Daehyun rolls over with a groan, burying his face under Himchan’s arm and right in his armpit. Lovely. “You hungry?” This only makes Daehyun groan again, and louder. “So we’re non-verbal today. Okay.”

Daehyun doesn’t say anything, but Himchan feels his lips graze over the line of muscle where chest meets shoulder, then teeth nip gently at his flesh, making him shiver. Daehyun’s body is like a furnace, burning them under the covers, so Himchan throws the blankets off of them, grinning when this makes Daehyun curl up tighter against him. It could be all in his head, but sometimes Himchan thinks that on Moon Days Daehyun’s hair is just a little bit wilder, his skin more firm and muscles taught. He smells like spruce and pine. Himchan drops a kiss to Daehyun’s temple before untangling himself from his clingy boyfriend, promising breakfast.

Breakfast is full of protein -- scrambled eggs, savory bacon, sausage links -- and some toast and a glass of orange juice to top it all off. He piles everything onto a tray and hopes the smell of grease sizzling in the pan was enough to make Daehyun at least sit up in bed. Moon Days are difficult because Daehyun’s body is a little unstable and he’s prone to crankiness, but Himchan has found that a lot of cooing and baby-talking and feeding helps.

He pushes the door to their bedroom open and finds Daehyun indeed sitting up in the center of the bed, the blanket wrapped around his shoulder and over his head like a giant shawl, his thick black hair like something’s been nesting in it. Daehyun blinks, licking his lips, and grins languid and slow. His eyes flash gold before returning to their normal deep brown. He’s almost upon the food before Himchan can set it down.

“Nuh-uh,” Himchan cautions, raising the tray higher before Daehyun can cause a disaster. “Good werewolves say please and thank you.”

“Please,” Daehyun says, putting his palms together like he’s praying and pouting with everything he’s got. With the blanket over his head, he makes a rather pitiful image. Himchan jerks his chin up to indicate that Daehyun should move back, and Daehyun does quickly, nearly getting tangled in the covers. Chuckling, Himchan puts the tray down on its stable little legs, and Daehyun eyes the food but waits, following Himchan’s implicit order. On Moon Days, Daehyun always seems to be a little more willing to bend to Himchan’s will, like a puppy to its master. Himchan shakes his head of the image, smiling to himself.

“You can eat, Daehyun,” Himchan says.

Daehyun launches himself at the food and Himchan grimaces, picking up a piece of toast before it can fall prey to Daehyun’s hunger. He nibbles while Daehyun stuffs himself, his body craving the fatty calories.

“Slow down, babe,” he cautions. Daehyun pauses, looking up Himchan with huge eyes. A piece of bacon dangles from between his lips. He chomps it down, chewing and swallowing at a slower pace. “Good boy,” Himchan teases, but it makes Daehyun growl happily, smiling as he eats. Himchan wipes a fleck of egg from his boyfriend’s cheek, mentally ticking off a checklist in his head.

One, a good, filling breakfast. Two, a mid-morning cuddle session. Three, take the ice-packs out of the freezer for the fever that sets in around mid-day. Four, prepare the lock and chains. Five, prepare Daehyun’s favorite floor pillow. Six, provide ample love and kisses before sundown. Seven, secure the lock, no matter how weak Himchan is against Daehyun’s puppy-dog pout.

It had taken them a while to get to this point. Himchan still remembers the first time Daehyun asked him to be his keeper on the night of a full moon, years ago. He’d given Himchan a duffel bag heavy with the chains and padlock, a gun that fired silver bullets. “I trust you,” he’d said, and sometimes Himchan thinks he'll favor this moment over even their wedding vows. They still have the gun, locked away and kept tucked into the back corner of a shelf high in their closet, but Himchan hopes never to see it again.

Daehyun finishes his breakfast before Himchan makes it halfway through his toast, and they share the orange juice because Daehyun doesn’t care much for the acidity on Moon Days, but acknowledges he needs the Vitamin C. He whines, sitting back with the covers around his thighs, when he suspects Himchan is dragging it out and making him wait. “Can you take care of the dishes?” Himchan asks, knowing the question can go either way. If Daehyun’s in the right mood, he’ll jump right to it, eager to please; if Daehyun’s feeling cranky and bitter more than generous, he’ll burrow under the blankets again and glare at Himchan as if to say, “How dare you?”

To his delight, Daehyun removes himself from the blanket, picks up the tray carefully, and treads into the kitchen with light steps as Himchan follows. Himchan breaks away from Daehyun to lounge on the sofa for some well-deserved respite, building up the mental energy he’s going to need for the rest of the day. He closes his eyes, brushing crumbs from the toast from his lips, and listens to the sound of running water from their faucet, the clank of dishes. The scent of lemon fills the air.

His mind wanders back to that first night with Daehyun and the full moon. He’d known Daehyun was a Were -- they were rare nowadays, but Yongguk was a good friend and a good Alpha, and he always seemed to find the strays, brushing dirt and leaves from their muzzles and welcoming them into a warm, loving home. Daehyun had been one of those strays, jumpy and wary of humans, but he’d stayed where others tended to move on after quickly rehabilitating. Yongguk found him regular work with a boss who was sympathetic to Weres, and Daehyun hadn’t felt the itch to roam anymore, not when he had a bed and good food to eat. Himchan came home from his last year at college to find Yongguk with a new roommate and brother, someone whose eyes held the wild still. They’d bonded over a shared distaste for Yongguk’s predisposition towards prepackaged meals.

As things tend to go, they moved out because of many reasons that seemed to converge all at once: Junhong, another stray, wanted to stay with Yongguk and Yongguk barely had the space; Daehyun admitted that he loved Himchan in that quiet unsure way of his, dancing back and forth on his toes; Himchan found a job as a music teacher in a smaller city that bordered a large stretch of forest. They put money down for a house in a new subdivision that cropped up near the woods; the first month, everything still smelled like paint and fresh concrete. That first full moon had also been their first alone together in their new house without Yongguk there to guide them if things went wrong. But Daehyun had said, “I trust you,” and Himchan had taken the bag and hoisted it over his shoulder.

The faucet shuts off and moments later a heavy weight lands on his stomach. Himchan breathes in spruce and pine and wraps his arms around Daehyun’s waist, rolling them over to fit side-by-side on the couch.

“All done?” he asks, nuzzling into the back of Daehyun’s neck. The smell hits him strongest here, coupled with the ripe, fresh scent of Daehyun. Daehyun hums in response, shifting until they are pressed closely together. “Want to watch TV?” Daehyun hums again, and Himchan reaches over them both to get the remote from their low coffee table. He clicks it on and they settle in over some Saturday morning cartoons.

.


	2. Chapter 2

Right at around lunch-time, Daehyun begins to grow restless, his body overheated as a fever takes over his bones. No matter how many times Himchan’s been Daehyun’s keeper on Moon Day, it doesn’t make the sounds of his whimpering any easier to bear.

“It’s just a fever, Dae,” Himchan murmurs into Daehyun’s ear as they spoon on the couch. He rubs his hand slowly over Daehyun’s stomach as the Were whines. Daehyun once told him the fever was like being doused in lava. It was his muscles getting ready for the change; storing up energy so they could be ripped and reshaped into a completely different form. His skin is flushed and beaded with sweat. When he drags his hand up to feel Daehyun’s forehead, it scalds him. “It’ll break soon. Do you want me to get the ice?”

A long, mournful whine is the response, so Himchan sits up slowly and steps over Daehyun onto the floor, making his way back into the kitchen. He casts a glance back at his boyfriend as he goes, frowning at the dazed look on Daehyun’s face. “I don’t know how you managed without me,” Himchan says more to himself than to Daehyun as he rummages through their freezer for the ice packs, two small, flat frozen squares wrapped inside some clean kitchen towels. He also decides to bring back a cup of ice cubes in case Daehyun wants to crunch on them. “You’re so hopeless on Moon Days,” Himchan continues, setting the ice packs and glass on the coffee table as he sits in front of Daehyun on the couch. “My little baby werewolf.” Himchan tickles under Daehyun’s chin, and Daehyun attempts to growl, but only manages another weak whimper.

Himchan settles into the couch and waits for Daehyun to crawl into his lap, the heat radiating off his body. When he’s comfortable, propped against Himchan’s chest, knees hooked over Himchan’s thighs, Himchan takes the ice packs and places the first on Daehyun’s forehead. An annoyed grunt. The surface of the ice pack almost immediately condenses and water soaks through the cloth, beads of moisture dripping down Daehyun’s forehead as he leans back. “Tummy, too?” Himchan asks. Daehyun seems to give it some real thought before licking his lips and nodding yes.

Ice packs situated, Himchan sits back again and resigns himself to a couple hours waiting out Daehyun’s fever by catching up with a drama series he’s been meaning to watch since the beginning of the month.

“Ice,” Daehyun whines, opening up his mouth and sticking out his tongue.

“Nuh-uh,” Himchan says. “You want ice you can feed yourself ice.”

Daehyun, stubborn on his best days and downright childish on his worst, does not retract his tongue, and levels Himchan with another spectacular mournful whine, his eyes big and dark and tearful.

Himchan’s heart lurches in his chest. Damn Daehyun and his eyes. Himchan’s always been weak against them. “Fine. Just the first one.” He snatches the cup up and swirls the cup to loosen the ice cubes before digging into the glass to fish one out. Then he places it right on Daehyun’s tongue.

The sound Daehyun makes in response can only be described as a happy little yip, a puppy who has caught its first thrown frisbee.

.

The sun passes its zenith before Daehyun’s fever breaks, and Himchan’s starting to realize he lost feeling in his legs about half an hour ago. “Should we make lunch?” Himchan asks in an attempt to dislodge his boyfriend from his lap with the promise of more food. Daehyun, sleepy after cuddling for so long and exhausted from riding out the fever, merely blinks up at Himchan with a dreamy grin. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Himchan surmises.

The best part of Moon Day, Himchan thinks as he takes out the steak that had been marinating in their fridge overnight, is actually the day after, when Daehyun feels both guilty and grateful for how much Himchan did for him, and makes up for it with massages and praise and a couple of rounds of rather rambunctious sex.

He cooks the steak bloody rare and fries a couple cups of chopped up veggies for himself in the juice leftover. Daehyun isn’t so ravenous this mealtime, so they take their time eating, kissing between bites and cuddling on the couch. This time of year, night comes on fast, and the sun sinks, and Daehyun’s eyes glow yellow for longer and longer. When they finish their meal, it’s well past the afternoon, and the sky is a lovely pink-orange like peaches in the distance.

Daehyun peers out the window from the couch and turns back to Himchan with his canines fully extended, matching looks of surprise on their faces at the development. The surprise quickly turns to shame on Daehyun’s when he tries to retract them but can’t, and he covers his mouth with his hands.

“Hey,” Himchan says gently, reaching up to tug at Daehyun’s hands. “It’s okay. I’m not scared.” They come away from his face reluctantly. Daehyun’s eyes flash brown once more before he blinks and opens them and they are gold. They’ll stay gold until the morning. “It’s happening kinda fast, huh?”

Daehyun nods.

“What do you want to do? Do you want to go downstairs?” Himchan lets Daehyun decide. Before they chose the house, they made sure they could use one of its rooms to hold a shifted Werewolf on a full moon night, and found that the small, cellar-like basement, unfinished with its steel piping protruding from the walls, would do just fine. Himchan takes in the nervous hunch in Daehyun’s shoulders and the dip in his brow and thinks he knows what he’ll want to do; Daehyun’s always leaned toward the cautious side, especially when Himchan was involved.

“Downstairs,” Daehyun whispers, his voice like cracked, dry leaves.

Himchan nods in agreement even though it makes his chest ache. He never likes leaving Daehyun alone down there but fully recognizes that a Werewolf running loose around town would be an awful alternative. “Okay. You want to come with me to get your stuff?”

This time Daehyun nods. He trails Himchan into their bedroom where Himchan drags a duffel bag out from underneath the frame of their bed. With a heave, Himchan brings it over his shoulder, the metal inside clanking. Daehyun crawls onto his knees to reach for the large floor cushion stuffed under the bed as well. He hauls it out with some difficulty, sneezing at least three times for the dust that’s accumulated. Together, they bring these things out of the bedroom and across the living room, turning the corner and stopping in front of the door to their basement.

“You sure?” Himchan asks again. “It’s early.”

“Different,” Daehyun grunts, his voice nearly gone, adjusting the big cushion in his grip. The first time they’d had a Moon Day in this house, Himchan had bought him a present: a water bowl with his name painted on the side. Daehyun had not seen the humor in it for days. Now, though, Himchan thinks he will bring it back out and fill it up, just as an excuse to check up on him later in the evening.

“Alright,” Himchan sighs, opening the door. “Let’s get to it.”

.


	3. Chapter 3

The chains are heavy enough that by the time Daehyun is locked into a makeshift harness and lashed against the steel pipes, Himchan has sweat beaded over his upper lip and at his temples. Daehyun’s undressed down to just his black boxers, the chains dull and criss-crossing over his torso, around his neck. He sits cross-legged on the cushion above the rough concrete floor of the basement. One day, Himchan thinks, they should finish the walls down here, really fancy it up and cover up the exposed skeleton framework, make a den. One day, maybe, Daehyun won’t need the lock and chains at all.

Himchan left barely enough room in all that metal for the shift to happen; though Daehyun asked him to make the bonds tighter, Himchan doesn’t want to risk the chains hurting him when he bulks up into the shape of a wolf.

“Comfy?” he asks Daehyun, stepping back but letting his hand linger at Daehyun’s cheek. There’s already a bit of fuzz growing along Daehyun’s jawline, and Himchan pets him affectionately. Daehyun turns his face into Himchan’s palm and kisses the curve of its heel. “I hate leaving you down here.”

Daehyun sits up a little straighter, but then, as if the chains have suddenly doubled in weight, his form crumples, shoulders sagging. He cranes his neck to look out of the small window near the ceiling of the basement, just at ground level, with the view of the grass and sky. There’s only a little bit of light left.

“I know,” Himchan says. “I know it’s dangerous. I know why we do this. I just don’t like it. You’re not an animal.” Images of their past few years together pass through his mind: Daehyun, fun-loving and overly-friendly after the ice has broken, dragging them all out to dinners together; Daehyun, who hated scary movies. The first time they held hands, by accident. The first time they held hands, on purpose. Their first kiss. He thinks about Yongguk and his fight for Weres to be recognized under the law as human, to be afforded the same rights. They were friends before but became even closer friends as activists, and the years before Daehyun came into their lives had been fraught with uncertainty and, at times, chaos. Daehyun still speaks little about his time before he met them. “You’re not,” he says again, when Daehyun’s eyes do not reach him.

The sun dips below the horizon. In the sudden absence of warm light, Daehyun’s eyes are the moon.

.

At around midnight, Himchan throws the covers from his body and gives in to the fact that he’s not going to sleep tonight. He’s too worried. He rolls out of bed and trudges out of their room, nearly dislocating his pinky toe when he crashes into the doorframe with his foot. As he gets closer to the basement door, he imagines he can hear Daehyun whimpering and growling and rustling his chains in that cramped and dark room.

He makes his way into the kitchen, stooping in front of the counter to get at the cabinets underneath and pulling out that water bowl. He fills it at the sink, and then he carefully brings it back over to the basement door, before which he stands with his breath held.

A keening howl makes the whole house shiver. It seemed to be the signal he was waiting for. Himchan opens the door and descends.

Daehyun’s fur is the deep warm color of copper, thick and lush. He sits on his haunches on the cushion but when Himchan comes into appearance, the chains go taut with a sudden lunge. Himchan catches his gold eyes, though, and sees that Daehyun hadn't meant it to be frightening; he’d only wanted to get closer. The remains of his black boxers have been cast to the side, merely scraps of fabric, now.

“Thirsty?” Himchan asks, offering up the water bowl. Cautiously, he edges closer and places the bowl down on the floor by the cushion. He doesn’t believe Daehyun will hurt him, but he’s not stupid. Daehyun drinks, pink tongue lapping up water, and when he has had his fill, he sits back on his haunches and stares at Himchan, tongue lolling.

“So,” Himchan says, thinking maybe he should have brought a book with him to read, since it’s not like they can really have a conversation. Daehyun tilts his head to the side, confusion on his muzzle. “If we got a dog,” Himchan asks, “would you get jealous?” Even though he’s currently a wolf, Himchan can see the glare in Daehyun’s face, golden eyes narrowed. He growls low, and Himchan growls right back, a strange, puny sound coming from a human. “Guess so.”

An hour later, after he’s exhausted all his questions, Himchan finds himself sitting on the cushion with Daehyun, his fur sleek against his skin. Daehyun even lays his head on Himchan’s shoulder, harmless.

“You’re a good boy today,” Himchan says, grinning when it makes Daehyun’s ears twitch in interest. “See? You don’t need these chains or anything. Why don’t we just--” Daehyun growls again, but Himchan waves him off. “We’ll be fine,” he says. “Trust me.”

He reaches for the key dangling from a string that’s nailed to the wall and unlocks the padlock keeping the chains together. For a long moment, nothing happens and Himchan holds his breath, and then they loosen, and they fall. Daehyun stays still, tail thumping against the cushion while Himchan lets out his breath, jaw unclenching. “See? Nothing bad happened. I told you. You just needed to trust yourself.”

After a second of hesitation, Daehyun follows Himchan slowly up the steps and they emerge into their living room. Thinking it might be nice to cuddle with what amounts to a big lapdog while losing himself in television, Himchan points to the couch, pleased when Daehyun hops onto the furniture readily. He turns himself in circles a few times before plopping down onto his belly, looking bored already. Himchan climbs in behind Daehyun, settling into a comfortable position.

That’s when, outside, another wolf howls.

.


	4. Chapter 4

Himchan’s arms come around Daehyun’s neck when he feels the wolf tense at the sound. “Leave it,” he urges, sighing when Daehyun’s ears droop in what hopefully means he will ignore the howl.

Silence, outside, that slowly eats up the white noise that comes with living in a place like this: crickets chirping and the occasional hoot of an owl, leaves rustling in the gentle wind. Inside, Himchan combs his fingers through Daehyun’s fur distractedly.

The silence breaks with another long howl.

The next thing Himchan knows is that he’s banging into the hardwood floor and glass is shattering closeby. He sees a flash of fur; Daehyun has thrown himself out of their window. “Daehyun!” he calls out, quickly righting himself and running to the broken remains of their window, careful of the shards. His heart thumps wildly in his chest. There have been a few Moon Days when Daehyun couldn’t seem to calm himself, pacing and whining and growling in his chains in the basement, but Himchan’s never known him to _run away_. “Daehyun!”

Daehyun has already cleared the area behind their house. He must have run off into the woods, looking for this other wolf. Daehyun’s a small Were in comparison to others Himchan knows, but still larger than the average regular wolf. What if Daehyun finds this other wolf and the other wolf is bigger, meaner? What if the other wolf isn’t alone? Himchan chews on his lower lip, hands clenched into fists and fingernails digging into his palms. “Damn it,” he curses, swiftly moving into their bedroom.

He goes to the closet, stands on his toes and shoves his arm into the space above the highest shelf there. His fingers meet the rough fabric of a backpack -- their ‘emergency’ pack, of sorts, filled with a small first-aid kit, a coil of nylon rope, and a big camping knife. He takes it down and shrugs into the shoulder straps, pausing before standing on his toes again and reaching above the shelf again, grappling with the smooth sides of a metal box. He manages to bring the box down and holds it with both hands, blood thrumming in his ears. He has to find Daehyun before someone or something else does.

He opens the metal box. The gun sits inside, right next to a magazine filled with silver bullets. He tucks both into his backpack, just in case.

.

There’s a dead squirrel on their front step. Himchan gags, and then uses his foot to push it to the side into the bushes, out of sight. Poor squirrel. Probably wasn’t expecting a big wolf to come after it today. At least this meant that maybe Daehyun hadn’t wandered into the woods, after all, if he was busy leaving dead squirrels on their doorstep.

He hears another howl in the distance that makes all the little hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. Rolling his shoulders back, he sets off at a brisk pace, deciding he’ll do a quick circuit of their neighborhood first before turning his attention to the woods. He just wants to find Daehyun and bring him home, before he can find anything bigger than a squirrel to hunt. He can already imagine the remorse on his boyfriend’s face when he wakes up in the morning from killing a little defenseless creature, assuming he finds him in time to bring him back home; otherwise Daehyun could be dealing with the awkward situation of waking up naked somewhere in the woods, or in someone’s backyard. The image of Daehyun streaking across one of their neighbor’s front yards suddenly lightens the heavy feeling in his chest. Daehyun’s going to be fine. Himchan’s going to find him, and bring him home.

He passes a house on his left just as their neighbor is fitting her key into the lock, entering. “Himchan?” she calls.

“Hey, Hyeri,” Himchan calls back, not really stopping. He gives her a wave. Hyeri lives with a couple of other girls and he and Daehyun have gone over for lunch a couple of times, lunch usually beginning and ending with copious amounts of champagne.

“You going out right now?” she asks, clearly giving him a once over. Himchan blushes when he realizes she’s probably judging him for coming out in his sleep clothes -- an old ratty shirt and his boxers, revealing quite a bit of thigh. He also looks down and mentally slaps his own forehead. He’s wearing bright pink socks with sandals.

“Yeah...just wanted to get some fresh air...and stuff.”

“Well,” Hyeri says, “be careful.” As if on cue, another howl sounds in the distance. “Hear that? Those are wolves. Don’t know why they’re here in this part of Korea, but we’re not taking any chances. Some families have been setting traps around the neighborhood and in the woods. We’ve got kids here, after all!”

“Traps?” Himchan asks, feeling sweat bead on his upper lip. He licks it off as Hyeri nods and opens her front door.

“Yeah, don’t stay out too late. Stay safe!”

They wave good-bye to each other, and Hyeri disappears into her house. Himchan breaks into a run.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry short chapter is short /o\


	5. Chapter 5

Not having any luck in their neighborhood, Himchan grits his teeth and turns his attention to the forest ensconcing the community. He fishes out a small flashlight from the bottom of their emergency pack and breathes a sigh of relief when it actually turns on. There’s a trail in these woods, and Himchan will just stick to the trail, and he’ll be totally, totally fine.

Half an hour later and there’s still no sign of Daehyun, but night has condensed all around him, the light from the moon barely breaking through the cover from the tree branches above. A twig snaps somewhere off to his left, and Himchan freezes. Another snap. “Daehyun?” he tries, more creeped out than he thought he’d be. He could always handle the scary movie nights they used to have when they all lived together, with Yongguk. Ironically, it was Daehyun who couldn’t, who hid his face when monsters or ghosts jumped out on screen.

A breeze rustles the leaves. He hears a flutter of wings. The beam from his flashlight bounces around as Himchan tries to get an idea of what’s surrounding him. Just trees. He keeps walking.

Another ten minutes pass with no luck, and Himchan considers turning back. He can’t help but think about what might be lurking in the forest, following him, a weak and tasty human. Daehyun can take care of himself. Probably. He’s a werewolf and it’s the full moon and honestly the only reason why Himchan is out here looking for him right now is because he knows Daehyun doesn’t like to be alone. Well, there’s that and also that Himchan is responsible for him on Moon Day. That is their deal. Himchan takes care of him, and that means he keeps him out of trouble.

Steeling himself again, Himchan pushes forward.

Only to be brought up short by something very large blocking his path.

This very large thing has four legs and glittering yellow eyes and dark, thick fur. A wolf.

“Daehyun?” Himchan whispers, immediately realizing however that this wolf is not him. Fear catches his breath; he takes a step back and can’t seem to move any farther, his flashlight trained on the wolf. The wolf growls, squinting against the light. It's big, possibly another Were. “Okay,” Himchan says to himself. “It’s fine, this is fine. No sudden movements, stay still, stay -- OH JESUS--”

The wolf lunges. Himchan’s flashlight drops and rolls away, off the trail, as Himchan throws his arms up to guard himself against two-hundred pounds of wild animal crashing into his chest, but the impact never comes. Instead, he hears the thump of two bodies colliding, followed by a choked-off yip. When he opens his eyes, he sees two wolves grappling on the forest floor, jaws snapping at each other. “Daehyun!”

Quickly, Himchan goes to retrieve the flashlight not ten paces away, mind racing as he hears the sounds of the fight escalate behind him. What should he do? He brought the gun, but does he even remember how to fire it? Worse, what he uses it and misses, hitting Daehyun instead? When he returns to the trail with the light, the two wolves take off likes arrows from a bow, crashing through the undergrowth. Himchan follows as best as he can, worried, running fast, but ultimately loses them. Had Daehyun been the one giving chase? Was he hurt? Himchan pauses, hunching over to put his hands on his knees, taking huge, gulping breaths. He can’t even hear them anymore.

He walks briskly, swinging the beam of the flashlight back and forth, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. He’s no longer worried for himself at all, but gnawing on his bottom lip thinking about Daehyun in a fight. He and Yongguk used to rough-house a bit, when they could, but the end result was always Daehyun rolling over to show his belly and submission to his alpha. He can’t imagine this one, with the full moon out and with an unfamiliar wolf, ending the same way.

Himchan trips over a raised root and loses his footing, staggering a few steps before regaining his balance. He hears the familiar sound of high-pitched whimpering, and his heart leaps up into his throat.

“Dae--!” He nearly trips again in his haste to reach the wolf, who he finds lying on his belly, his left leg stuck out at an awkward angle. When Himchan approaches too quickly, Daehyun snaps his teeth at him, but then immediately lays his head down and whines, apologetic. “It’s okay,” Himchan says soothingly. “What happened? Oh, Daehyun.”

It’s one of those traps. Daehyun’s foot has been caught in its jagged metal grip, blood from the wound matting his fur. Himchan reaches for the contraption and Daehyun flinches, aggravating the wound. He whines again, wolf eyes wet. “I’ll get you out,” Himchan says, one hand slowly connecting with Daehyun’s ear, petting the softness there. “You’ll be fine. Where’s that other wolf, huh? Gone?”

Daehyun barks once in affirmation, gruff and low. He covers his eyes with his forepaws.

“Thank you for chasing him off.” Himchan speaks as he works the trap loose, the flashlight pinched between his cheek and shoulder so he can see what he’s doing. He ignores the blood, for now. “You certainly showed him. You protected me.” With a groan, the trap releases, and Himchan is quick to move it to the side. “It’s gone. There we go. I just need to bind it up, okay?”

After living with Yongguk for so long and being active in his various campaigns, first aid comes rather naturally to Himchan. He cleans and binds up Daehyun’s leg neatly before urging him to try to stand. Daehyun does so, balancing on three legs instead of four.

“You ready to go home?”

Daehyun nods. It’s slow going, but they make it back without any more trouble.

.

Himchan wakes to warmth pressed all along the length of his spine, covers bunched on his side of the bed, and Daehyun’s limbs like octopus arms all around him. Squirming a bit to face Daehyun within the tight circle of his arms, Himchan chuckles when he sees Daehyun still has a leaf in his hair. He removes it and kisses his forehead before extricating himself slowly to sit up. Instantly, Daehyun curls up around his thighs, head in Himchan’s lap. He looks down the length of Daehyun’s gloriously naked body, pausing at the loose bindings on his left foot. Already, most of it has healed.

Daehyun says something garbled and unclear.

“What was that?” Himchan whispers, scooting down lower again. They rearrange, and Daehyun lays his head on Himchan’s chest instead.

“I said, mornin’.” Daehyun’s voice is raspy and thick and wonderful. “What’s for breakfast?”

“It’s not Moon Day anymore,” Himchan argues. “ _You’re_ supposed to make _me_ breakfast.”

“I chased a wolf off for you,” Daehyun says. "A Were. I protected this neighborhood!"

“Well, I found a dead squirrel on my doorstep, thank you -- please don't start hunting for me -- and still went out into the woods to look for you, and then I fixed you up.”

A pause. Daehyun kisses his collarbone, tongue tracing over his skin. “We could just stay like this a bit longer,” Daehyun says as a compromise.

Himchan breathes in deep, breathes in spruce and pine, Daehyun’s wild, fresh scent. “We could.”

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for taking part in my self-indulgence. hope you liked it.

**Author's Note:**

> i know i have a million other things i should/could be writing but GAY WEREWOLF BOYFRIENDS


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